In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a
former settlement which was abandoned during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, typically leaving no trace apart from
earthworks
Earthworks may refer to:
Construction
*Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour
*Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil
*Earthworks (military), mi ...
or
cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more than three houses, it is regarded as a shrunken medieval village. There are estimated to be more than 3,000 DMVs in England alone.
Other deserted settlements
Not all sites are medieval: villages reduced in size or disappeared over a long period, from as early as
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
times to as late as the 1960s, due to numerous different causes.
Reasons for desertion
Over the centuries, settlements have been deserted as a result of natural events, such as rivers changing course or
silting up, flooding (especially during the wet 13th and 14th centuries) as well as coastal and estuarine
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...
or being overwhelmed by windblown sand.
Many were thought to have been abandoned due to the deaths of their inhabitants from the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
in the mid-14th century. While the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
must often have greatly hastened the population decline, which had already set in by the early 14th century in England because of
soil exhaustion and disease, most DMVs actually seem to have become deserted during the 15th century. At this time, and other policies allowed land traditionally cultivated for
cereal
A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...
s and vegetables to be transformed into
pasture
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...
s for sheep. The medieval
ridge and furrow cultivation pattern remains evident in fields, even until today. This change of
land use
Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...
by landowners, which was to take advantage of the profitable wool trade, led to hundreds of villages being deserted.
Later, the aristocratic fashion for grand country
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
s, parks and landscaped gardens led to whole villages being moved or destroyed to enable
lords of the manor to participate in this trend: a process often called
emparkment or
enclosure
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
.
Examples
Perhaps the best-known deserted medieval village in England is at
Wharram Percy in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...
, because of the extensive
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
excavations conducted there between its discovery in 1948 and 1990. Its ruined church and its former fishpond are still visible.
In
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...
, around 100 villages can be classified as deserted, there are articles relating to many of them, such as
Onley,
Althorp,
Canons Ashby
Canons Ashby is a small village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Preston Capes.
Its most notable building is Canons Ashby House, a National Trust property. T ...
,
Church Charwelton and
Coton along with
Faxton,
Glendon,
Snorscombe,
Wolfhampcote
Wolfhampcote is an abandoned village and civil parish in the English counties of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, which it straddles. The civil parish of Wolfhampcote in Rugby borough, includes the old village, plus the nearby village of ...
and
Wythmail
The deserted village of Wythmail is located 4.5 miles south of Kettering in the English county of Northamptonshire. The village of Orlingbury is 1.1 miles to the east. Wythmail was part of the parish of Orlingbury.
History
In the Domesday Boo ...
.
Other examples are at
Gainsthorpe
Gainsthorpe is a deserted medieval village (DMV) site in a field which is part of the present Gainsthorpe Farm in Lincolnshire, England. The site is in Hibaldstow civil parish located on a minor road west of the A15 road, south of Hibaldstow a ...
and
Burreth in Lincolnshire.
See also
*
Abandoned village
An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, ...
*
Ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
*
Ghost estate - A modern phenomenon in rural Ireland
*
Walraversijde – most researched deserted medieval fishing village in Europe
References
*
Further reading
*{{cite book , title=Deserted Villages Revisited , editor=Christopher Dyer , editor2=Richard Jones , year=2010 , publisher=University of Hertfordshire Press , isbn=978-1-905313-79-2
External links
Lost Villages of the British IslesDeserted medieval villages and other abandoned communities in Britain
Archaeology of England